42 & A Plan

Well I turned 42 a couple days ago...

The upside: great friends and a fantastic family.  Everyone conspired to MAKE me enjoy the fucker of a day.  So I did.  Chloe made me a beautiful card which rocks.  Amy surprised me with a Francis Francis X1  espresso machine [Paul, did I mention that we're back on the Black Nectar??], a couple DVD's I'd been wanting [The Big Lebowski, Keith Jarrett: The Art of the Improviser and This Is Spinal Tap] as well as the beautiful David Herlihy book, Bicycle: The History  [which even though I'm just past the intro, is killing and fantastic!!].  Chloe & Amy made me a wonderful dinner and we hung out and ate cake too... all great stuff.

A neighbor bought me a very nice bottle of Pinot Grigio as an unexpected gift, very nice.

If that wasn't enough... Bob Brown emailed me and said, "Go to my BLOG  and have a Look-See around".  I did, and boy was I happy!!  He has finished Amy's lug set for her soon-to-be-done custom [hopefully in time for her B-Day?!] and I must say... the lugs are just stunning.  He did an amazing job [as always] and I cannot wait for her to see these when everything is finished up.

Dig these...

This is a dragonfly that extends out from the upper head lug onto the top tube.

Same lug again... just beautiful-so delicate with the wings wrapping around the tube.

This is the bottom head lug with a beautiful French Papillon with a heart underneath.

More detail of the French Papillon... Amy's going to smile a lot when she sees these.

Upper head lug again... side detail showing an 8th note done in my hand & carved by Bob beautifully as well as meticulously.

Bob has such a special thing going with his skills, artistry & personality, I feel like he is on the edge of some major recognition.  His colleagues already know how deeply talented he is as is shown in their respect & regard for him but too, the custom-buying public is quickly getting hip to him as well, and I, for one, am really glad and excited for him.  He deserves every last bit of recognition he gets... the Talented always do.

Ok, now on to the downside of my B-Day: 42 seems old, sounds old.  For fucks sake, I can REMEMBER hitting 20 and thinking I owned the damn world... where did the years go??  If anyone finds the last 22 years please email me and send them the hell back.  Thanks.

So next up is something I've been thinking about...

We-the 3 of us-have been really lax about riding lately and that's some shit that must stop, so I have come up with a plan.  In 2 days Amy's vacation time from work kicks in and she has 7 days off [yee-haw!] and what I was thinking was this...

Start riding-the 3 of us that is-on that first day and continue to ride the rest of those 7 days as well... but here's where it gets interesting... keep riding!  Novel huh?  No, seriously though... keep riding-even if it's just a short ride BUT at least one ride per day until the end of 2005.  I have studded tires and I can get some for Amy's ride easily enough too.  Make that our personal goal... instead of weight per se, or "x" amount of miles, blah, blah... "a ride everyday for the remainder of '05"!

It sounds very reasonable, do-able... it's not like saying, "Ok, we ride 45 miles per day... " or anything too over-achieving.  Just right.

Yeah, just right.  Sounds great.

Comments

[fixedgear]

Got us one a them Francis Francis X1 in basic black. Nice machine, you are gonna like it. The Bicycle book is just awe-inspiring. It was my Christmas gift last year. Can't wait to see that bike when it is done, should be a stunner.

[Bone]

Damn, those are some pretty lugs!

[Paul Cooley]

Happy Birthday Scott!

I haven't been posting on my blog much do to the morbid fascination with hurricane season, oil prices, natural gas prices, etc. The devastation of New Orleans is just too much to write about.

I gathered from your last post that there are some allowances being made in your diet. Guess what? I stopped drinking coffee again this morning. I have this undiagnosed chronic illness which resembles malaria which crops up once or twice a year. I think my liver gets overloaded on pollen, but I also relate to a diet of coffee and grilled cheese sandwiches -- kid food in other words. I'll probably only keep off the coffee until the symptoms clear up.

I'll be turning 40 next May. My wife is planning to take a week off so I can take off backpacking in the wilderness I love.

Paul

[Greg]

Happy birthday old man.

Someone once told me that no matter what age or shape I was in, I should try to enjoy it to the fullest, because in 10 years I would give anything to go back to it. Right now, I'd give my left nut to be 42 again.

Recently, Ive had a Jackson Browne song stuck in my head, most particularly the lines:

"Sometimes I lay awake at night and wonder,
where the years have gone.
They have all passed under
sleep's dark and silent gate."

Living in limbo currently, no updates to the blog due to no internet access at home any longer. No TV either, which isn't so bad at all.

Current move in date on the house is last week in November. We'll see.

[Al Maviva]

Happy birthday old man.

Just remember - this isn't like Viet Nam. There are rules here...

[John Gorham]

Hey Scott,
All the best people have a birthday on September 22nd. Here is what I did on my 43rd.
http://home.att.net/~jfgorham/09222005.htm

My mom says that ain't old. Old is when your youngest turns 43! Get out there and Ride!